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About Us
THE UNIVERSITY
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is located near Research Triangle Park, home to over one hundred industries and foundations. The cities of Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and Durham form the "Triangle," and foster a unique metropolitan area offering abundant cultural and educational opportunities. Chapel Hill enjoys the best of small town living in a cosmopolitan environment. The University is the nation's first state university, and is one of two research institutions in the sixteen-campus state university system, covering over 700 acres, with 24,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students enrolled.
PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY
The Department of Physics and Astronomy offers two undergraduate degrees: The Bachelor of Science in Physics and the Bachelor of Arts in Physics. Students who are interested in astronomy may take astronomy courses as part of their requirements for either degree. Students at all levels, regardless of the degree they are pursuing, are encouraged to participate in the active research groups in the department. Students pursuing the B.A. degree have the option of completing a double major with another department. A minor in Physics and a minor in Astronomy are also offered. Further information is available.
The Department of Physics and Astronomy also offers graduate work leading to the degrees of Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy. The active fields of research are condensed-matter physics, microelectronics, biophysics, nuclear physics, elementary particle physics and string theory, general relativity and gravitation, astronomy, and astrophysics. Students with a strong background in physics and an interest in biology can also enroll formally for graduate study with our department and become affiliated for their research with faculty in the UNC Biophysics Program. The graduate courses are designed to give a broad foundation and to introduce the student to areas of active research in the Department. A well-stocked library for physics and mathematics, subscribing to over 290 physics journals and containing 68,000 volumes, is housed in Phillips Hall.
RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
The Department invites applications for study leading to the M.S. and Ph.D.
degrees. We have 90 graduate students, 37 permanent faculty members, and
more than 15 visiting scientists and research associates in our program.
Fellowships and teaching or research assistantships are awarded to
well-qualified applicants. Teaching assistantships are currently $16,560
for nine months, and research assistantships are $22,080 a year. Health
insurance is covered by the University. Summer support is offered, mainly
in our research laboratories. External contract and grant resources to
support Departmental research programs totaled more than $10M in the past fiscal
year.
Multi-user research facilities include the Department's ongoing major role
in the 4.2-meter SOAR Telescope in Chile and partnership in the 10.5-meter
Southern African Large Telescope project, the PROMPT robotic telescope
array, and the W. M. Keck Atomic Imaging and Manipulation Laboratory.
Departmental researchers also have access to the instrumentation in the
Chapel Hill Analytical and Nanofabrication Laboratory (CHANL), a part of
the Institute for Advanced Materials, Nanoscience, and Technology.
DEPARTMENT HIGHLIGHTS
In the following pages we describe briefly the organization of and regulations governing graduate studies and present an overview of research opportunities that exist in the Department. For further information please contact us or visit us in Chapel Hill.
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